Dig Me Out
by NiftyKitchenKnives
Summary: Tony continues to ask too much of her, Pepper continues to compose resignation letters in her head. They can't get out of their own way, let alone each others.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own no rights to Iron Man, nor any of the characters therein. I make no profit from this work of fiction. I own no rights to Sleater-Kinney's recordings/lyrics.

"Don't say another word

About the other girl"

One More Hour – Sleater-Kinney

Chapter 1

_Duh-duh dun-dun dah._

Virginia "Pepper" Potts cracked one bleary eye open and stared at her phone as the opening notes of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" rang through her darkened bedroom. Never again was she leaving her BlackBerry anywhere near Tony's questing fingers.

Ever.

She fully opened her eyes, both of them this time, and looked over at her clock. Five a.m. Tony was never up this early, unless he hadn't gone to sleep. Groaning at the loss of a particularly nice dream, she flopped her hand on her bedside table and pressed the button that would display his message.

_Dry cleaning._

Two simple words which, separately analyzed, would mean nothing. Together, for most people, they still meant very little. Unfortunately for Pepper, the reading of them brought her world crashing down.

It had been two months since the fated Press Conference. Pepper thought of it in exactly those terms, capitalization included. Tony telling the world he was Iron Man may have sounded like a great idea to his erratic genius brain at the time, but the second the words had come out of his mouth, Pepper had been taken by the desire to run for the proverbial hills.

Pepper had not missed these messages. She hadn't received a single one since his return from captivity, and she had begun to allow a small kernel of hope to grow in her chest that maybe, just maybe, Tony Stark had really changed. Now that kernel had exploded, and she could practically feel it burning down to embers. Of course he hadn't changed. Why would he wait for her, anyway? It wasn't exactly like she had made her burgeoning feelings known to him, and she had shot down every single innuendo of his with her typical, professional aplomb.

Pepper groaned as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. A quick shower, a cup of coffee, and one protein shake later, Pepper Potts was heading out her door, gym bag in hand. She hoped that she might find someone to spar with her; she had the feeling she would need it tonight. This was, of course, if Tony actually allowed her to leave on time.

In the car, she scolded herself for being unfair. Tony very rarely forced her to stay later than her requisite hours. She mainly stayed because she knew she would only have that much more to catch up on the next day if she didn't. Perhaps tonight she would clock out at exactly five. The gym she went to was open late, and by the time she got there, there should be plenty of people on the mats.

Pepper's musings on possible partners and the release of a good match had brought her all the way to Tony's home. As she gave her voice authorization at the front gate, Pepper steeled her nerves. She hated this part of working for Tony Stark, more than any other aspect.

The clean up.

She frowned, barely responding to JARVIS' polite greeting. She hoped that this one, at least, would simply take her forced exodus quietly. While it had been a long time since Pepper had had to escort one of Tony's female companions out the door, she had not forgotten some of the more spectacular ones. Point in fact, she had picked up kickboxing in her first six months working for him as a direct result of one of his more…irate… one night stands. She rubbed her fingers along her scalp gently at the memory, as if she could still feel the small patch of missing hair there.

She sighed quietly, popping delicate black ear buds into her ears as she went in search of the inevitable cocktail dress, or more formal evening gown. She was surprised to find it waiting on the couch in the living room, as opposed to being sought out in the bedroom. Well, at least he had saved her that indignity. She draped it over her arm, replaced the ear buds with her BlueTooth earpiece, and headed back out to her car. She tossed the dress in her back seat. It shimmered at her, winking merrily in the quiet pre-dawn light. She called up her music, selecting one of the louder bands that she kept on her playlist, almost in defiance of the dress' soft glow.

As she drove to the 24 hour dry cleaner, she sang along loudly, content for the moment to ignore the soft, familiar ring of her phone. _Stupid Tony. Stupid dress…_

_ Stupid Pepper._

Pepper wagged a mental finger at herself for her angst-laden thoughts. This was her **boss**, not her friend, certainly not her lover. She had no right to be making comments on his personal life, and she most assuredly had no right to be making comments on his choice of bedmates…or their clothing.

She heaved another heavy sigh as she entered the dry cleaner's. Olga, a friendly Russian matron, sat behind the counter reading what looked to be a mystery novel, horn-rimmed glasses propped on the end of her nose. She looked up with a smile of recognition.

"Miss Pepper! It has been long time, since that I have seen you." Pepper smiled at the woman's thick accent, and mildly improper grammar.

"Good Morning, Olga," she murmured quietly. "I'll be needing this on a rush," she continued as she handed the dress over. Olga clucked, turned the dress over in her hands, and nodded.

"You give me one hour, yes? I fix for you in one hour."

At the word 'fix' Pepper's eyes roved one more time over the dress, noted the slight tear near the zipper. She tried to feel nothing, really, but she felt the blood simmer in her veins regardless of her logical thoughts. She nodded firmly at Olga, scraped together a smile for her, and headed across the street to the small coffee shop she hadn't needed to frequent in so long.

As she sipped her caramel-mocha latte, a rare indulgence, she began mentally composing her letter of resignation. This wasn't the first time she had done it, not by a long shot, but this was the first time that she had allowed not only profanity, but personal feeling, to be present.

_To Whom It May Concern:_

_ I am sick to death of the every day bullshit that is my job. Tony Stark is a boorish, pig-headed, self-absorbed brute of a man. Due to his firm belief that he is, in fact, God's gift to women, I find myself incapable of continuing in my position without choking back bile at the mere mention of his name._

_ I spent my morning, the one where I should have been sleeping, cleaning the dress of his most recent conquest. This activity will be followed up by escorting the latest harlot out the door, and pretending that this is entirely all right with me._

_ I have an MBA. I have a brain. I have the nerve to have refused Tony Stark the feel of my legs around his hips, and for this he torments me on a regular basis._

_ In short, Tony Stark is an inconsiderate asshole, and I am Fed Up._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Pepper Potts._

Pepper grinned into her mug as she checked her watch. The dress should be done. She felt better for her little mental snubbing, which she knew for a fact that she would never commit to paper. For one thing, it would be ludicrous to curse in one's resignation letter. For another, while she could happily acknowledge the fact that she was less than thrilled with him at the moment, Pepper could also admit she liked Tony. She liked her job, and she liked the challenge of it, and in all the years that she had worked with him, she had yet to become bored. Angry? Yes. Annoyed? On a nearly hourly basis. But never bored; it simply wasn't possible in Tony's presence. He seemed hell-bent on making the world fit to his standards, and anyone who disagreed could either get out of the way, or get rolled over.

Pepper finished her drink and crossed back to the dry cleaner's, collecting the dress from Olga, along with advice to "quit working for that nasty man". Pepper smiled warmly at her, and shook her head as she got back into her car, hanging the dress in the back seat. She checked her clock: 7:15. Hopefully by the time she arrived, Tony's…lady friend…would be getting out of bed. It was always worse when she had to wake them.

She sang along softly to a song that she had forgotten she even had on her playlist, but seemed ridiculously appropriate.

"Didn't we almost have it, almost have it, almost. Didn't you want it?" She repeated the words along with the singer, pretending they didn't bring a pang to her heart. But here, in her car, in her own little world, it was okay to feel that pang. Once she got to those gates, walked through that door into that windowed, echoing house, she had to have her game face on.

She would be Ms. Potts, he would be Mr. Stark, and she would let herself forget the awful feelings of the morning in the everyday hustle that was the staple of being Tony Stark's PA. As she rolled back down the drive, she felt her mask falling into place, pleasant, proper, and cheerfully aloof. She buried everything else, promising herself that she would sweat it out tonight with music pouring into her ears.

She breathed in deep through her nose as she entered the living room. Distantly, she heard a voice calling her employer's name, and she envisioned a band of steel twisting itself around her spine.

"Tony?" The confused call was coming closer. The woman walked into the living room, one of Tony's many dress shirts tucked around her, hastily buttoned. Pepper allowed a pleasant but detached smile to grow on her face, but inside she was furious.

She was barely anything more than a girl; 23, perhaps 24 at the oldest. Fake-red hair, make-up smeared around bright blue eyes. She was petite and curvaceous, and right now her face seemed torn between hurt, and confusion. Her eyes locked on Pepper, where she stood holding the girl's dress.

"Who the fuck are you? Where's Tony?" her blue eyes flashed angrily.

Pepper refused to let herself react to the venom in the girl's voice. Hell, she would be furious too, in her position.

"My name is Virginia Potts. I'm Mr. Stark's personal assistant. Tony got called away on business, but your dress has been dry-cleaned, and there is a car waiting in the drive to take you anywhere you wish to go." The words felt dry and traitorous in her mouth, as if she had just bitten down on a piece of insulation and was tasting fiber-glass.

Quickly, the girl's face went from angry to hurt, and fat crocodile tears welled up in her eyes.

"He's gone?" she whispered. Pepper nodded, in what she hoped was a sympathetic manner.

"Oh." The anger was completely gone now, and in its place was something like desolation. The girl took her dress from Pepper's extended arm, shucking Tony's shirt and pulling it on with a complete lack of self-consciousness. Pepper coughed and turned away, wanting to allow the girl a semblance of privacy.

She was gone within minutes, and Pepper was left shaking in her wake, caught between anger at herself, and anger at Tony.

"This is the last time," she muttered to herself as she stormed to her office. As her desktop started up, she fumed silently, staring at the intercom, _**daring**_ Tony to buzz her now. Thankfully, for everyone involved, it remained silent for most of the morning, and she devoted herself to emails, press releases, requests for appearances, donations, interviews, and a whole host of pleasantly mind-numbing tasks.

Finally, the lunch hour rolled around, and she slumped back from her desk, stretching her arms up and over her head, groaning quietly at the tug of her muscles. It would serve Tony right, truly, if she simply left without saying anything to him, or offering to order in. She frowned at the petty thought, and waved it off within an instant of having it form.

She headed down to his workshop, heels clacking jauntily on the stairs. She could hear his music blaring out at her from behind the newly installed glass walls, and she punched her code into the door with practiced ease, turning the music off simultaneously.

"Potts, you know I hate it when you turn my music off," came Tony's disembodied voice. She ignored him, and walked to stand by the car that he was currently rolled under.

"Mr. Stark, it's one o'clock. I have a few documents for you to sign. I'll leave them on your desk. What would you like for lunch?" Pepper allowed herself to be impressed with the calm, detached voice that left her mouth. In reality, she wanted to kick him, maybe grind one of her perfect stiletto heels into the one place she knew would get his attention. She savored the image, just for a moment, before discarding it entirely.

"Umm…What's that new Italian place? The one with the calamari?"

"Donatello's, sir."

"Yeah. Order from there. They deliver, right?"

Pepper rolled her eyes at the hood of his hot rod, since he had yet to actually emerge from beneath it.

"No, sir. They didn't deliver last week, and I doubt their policy has changed."

"No matter. Send Happy out. Get something for him too, 'k?"

Pepper snorted, knowing he'd be too absorbed in his work to hear her.

"Of course, sir."

She turned to walk out of the workshop, glad the encounter was over. She was still hurt, still angry, and she wanted to limit her contact with him as much as possible.

"Potts, one of these days you're going to remember: it's Tony."

Pepper shook her head, glad to escape before he added anything lewd to the statement.

She placed their orders, and sent Happy out as she attended to her growing inbox.

As she ate her salad, later, she stared at the clock on her computer screen, willing the minutes to move faster.

When the clock finally displayed 4:59, her hands were already in motion, unplugging her laptop, dropping her BlackBerry into her purse, collecting up the numerous folders containing yet more documents for Tony to read (not that he would) and sign (maybe…). She barely fought down the nervous energy in her step as she took the stairs quickly down to the workshop once more. She entered her code and looked around, noting a distinct lack of Tony. Sighing with relief, she dropped the folders onto his desk where they joined the pile from earlier in the day.

As she whirled around, grinning at the prospect that this day, which had begun so hellishly, was over, she froze. Tony stood in the doorway, leaning against the jam, looking her over in the same assessing manner that he usually applied to his circuit boards and blueprints. This was bad. Bad, bad, bad.

Pepper took a deep breath, told herself that those molten brown eyes didn't effect her in the slightest. Hell, she had just ushered a woman out of this man's home today. Nothing about him _should_ effect anything about her person except for her gag reflex.

_Stupid, Pepper. Very Stupid. You should have just left the forms for tomorrow. _

She firmed her chin, lifting it slightly, and returned his gaze.

"More documents to sign, Mr. Stark. Please do read these, this time."

He cocked his head at her, eyes sweeping from her hair to her feet, before settling back on her face.

"Something bothering you, Potts?"

"No, sir. Should there be?"

_Ooh. Go ahead, Tony. Bring it up. I dare you._

She watched his mouth work, could practically hear him digging for a way to retort with a witty quip. Thankfully, he came up short and shrugged.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" she asked, with just a hint of stress on the title.

"That'll be all, Ms. Potts."

She nodded, brushed past him, and fled the mansion like it was on fire.

Still, she knew she would be back in the morning, like always. Perhaps a good night's sleep was all she needed. After her much needed trip to the gym, of course.

As she drove away, she told herself that, if her foot was a bit heavy on the accelerator, and her voice was just a bit choked on the lyrics she sang, it was only due to her excitement over a new kick combination she was learning.

She almost believed herself.

* * *

A/N: My first foray into the Iron Man fanfic arena. Anyone reading this who is possibly reading my other works will probably be shaking their fist at me. I'm doing that to myself, anyhow. But, when the plot bunny bites…

If you read, please review. Reviews make my day, and they help me develop my writing. Enjoy, and I'll see you next chapter.

~~Nifty~~


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own no rights to Iron Man or any of the characters therein. I make no profit from this work of fiction. I own no rights to Fiona Apple's lyrics.

"I could swallow the seas

To wash down all this pride"

Sleep to Dream – Fiona Apple

Warnings: Um…the most mild of naughty allusions

Chapter 2

Tony sat in the middle of a sea of car parts. At the moment, he was deconstructing the engine of his latest acquisition, a 1966 Chevy Chevelle SS in candy-apple red. It had caught his eye one day on the way in to Stark Industries. As they had passed the car in a lot, he had watched Pepper. She had stopped typing madly away on her BlackBerry, stared at the car longingly for just a moment, and returned to her previous task with a wistful face.

Tony, as a rule, generally found a longing look on Pepper's face, over _anything_, hot as hell. As soon as they had arrived at the office, he had immediately ordered Pepper to contact the car salesman and buy it, no haggling, money didn't matter, and to pick it up as soon as possible. The paper work had been faxed within an hour, and within two, an ecstatic Pepper had been rolling into the SI parking lot in the happily purring muscle car, hair shining in the mid-morning sunlight, sunglasses perched on her nose, and a very satisfied smile on her face as the engine snarled in response to her foot on the gas pedal.

Which was also hot as hell. Pepper and cars were two of his favorite things, and combining the two was a formula for an instant hard on.

Speaking of…

"JARVIS where is Pepper?" He called to his ever-present AI.

"She is in her office, sir. Shall I call her down?"

"Nah, I'll go find her."

Tony bound up the stairs in search of his assistant, pausing at her door when he heard an uncharacteristically girlish giggle.

"Steve! Stop...Oh, you're terrible…Hah! Someone needs their mouth washed out with soap…Of course. Yup. See you tonight. Love you, sweetie."

Tony heard the sound of her BlackBerry hitting the desk, and another muffled laugh, but he disregarded them. His mind was playing and replaying the snippet of conversation that he heard, and he found himself far less than pleased. He hadn't known she was seeing anybody, and found himself both annoyed and mildly hurt that she had never mentioned anything to him. Not that it mattered. Since he was only her boss. Obviously.

Still, he couldn't let this go without saying something.

He opened her door without knocking, sauntering in with his usual cocky air, and fixed her with a stern look.

"Miss Potts, taking personal calls on company time. Tsk, tsk. I expected better of you," he informed her as he wagged an oil-stained finger in her direction.

"Mr. Stark, listening at doorways, and lurking in shadows. I expected better of _you_," she responded easily, saucy tone belied by the blush of red across her cheeks.

"Plans tonight?" he asked, trying to sound cool.

"I'm allowed to have plans on a Friday night."

"I thought we'd been over this," he replied as he crossed the room and propped himself on her desk. He effectively invaded her space and blocked her escape route, something that pleased him immensely. Pepper simply fixed him with a teasing glare, and quirked one fire-hued eyebrow at him.

Pepper saw the challenge in his body language and raised him, one elegant knee rising to cross over the other. His lip quirked up at the side.

"So, Potts, who's the lucky guy?"

Tony watched the slight flush that crept up her neck before blossoming across the fair skin of her face. He liked that he'd caused it, but didn't like the subject he'd done it with.

"Not that it's your business, but his name is Steve. I met him at my gym. And you're sitting on the documents I need you to sign."

"That's a shame. Ya know, Potts, I've been on my feet so long that I may be stuck here. Unless, of course, you'd like to help me get up?" Tony's grin was wicked, and he topped it with a salacious wink, just in case Pepper missed the innuendo.

Pepper pursed her lips, her nostrils flared the slightest bit, and her blush deepened. Tony allowed himself a mental victory dance. He'd managed to fluster her two times in as many minutes. It wasn't a record, not for him, but it still felt good. He didn't expect her to actually take him up on it, though.

Pepper stood to her full, heel-assisted height and leaned in to his space. Tony felt his mouth dry out, and his breathing increased the slightest bit at her proximity. She fixed him with a playful glare, and he watched her hand lift from where it sat on the desk to his shoulder. She sighed, softly, as she leaned her face closer to his. His lips parted…

Her fingers jabbing into a recent bruise shocked a yelp out of him, and he flew off the desk. Pepper brandished the documents at him with a triumphant flourish and her own wicked smile.

Tony narrowed his eyes at her. "Dirty play, Potts. Dirty play."

Her smile widened, felt more genuine. "I learned from the best, Mr. Stark."

He muttered something about job security as he laid his signature down on her oh-so-important documents and Pepper snickered softly. As he finished, he watched her pack away her laptop and BlackBerry, getting ready to leave for the night.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" she asked, her professional tone giving no indication that she had just pinched the man in question.

"That'll be all Miss Potts." Tony's gave no hint that he had just hit on his assistant. Again.

Pepper brushed past him with a small smile and he watched her walk out, pencil skirt hugging her curves alluringly. There was a small frown on his lips, and he tapped his arc reactor idly with his fingers.

The untouchable Pepper Potts was leaving him, right on time for the fifth time that week, in order to go out on a date.

With someone not him.

This called for scotch.

* * *

"You know, if you find bag-work that boring, I could always set you on weighted laps."

The quiet voice shocked Pepper out of her daze as her eyes snapped to Steve. She had been working on her high kick, albeit a bit sloppily, but her mind had been rather firmly driven away from the gym. It galled her that, despite her best efforts, Tony Stark could break her concentration so much, even when he wasn't present.

_Ass._

"Sorry, Steve. I just…wasn't here for a bit," Pepper offered with a sheepish smile.

Steven Mason was a knock-out: intense cerulean eyes that danced with a joie-de-vivre that Pepper rarely saw outside of children, a perfectly boned face that housed smooth, supple lips, and a figure that would make the gods weep. He was kind, intelligent, loving, and endlessly patient both in and out of the gym.

In essence, Steven Mason was perfect, the man of every woman's dreams. So, of course, like everything else that the universe seemed to throw in Pepper's way, there was an insurmountable problem where their relationship was concerned.

Steven was gay; gay and involved with an equally perfect man.

Pepper cursed her rotten luck with the opposite sex for about the hundredth time that day. She gave in and admitted defeat, bowing to the bag in a mocking way, acknowledging the inanimate object as the victor. She plopped gracelessly down where she had been standing and took a long drink from her water bottle. Steven joined her, and they sat in the relative silence of the training room.

After a few minutes, he nudged her shoulder gently with his own.

"Pepp, what's wrong? I've seen you distracted before, but I've not seen such sloppy legwork from you since your first month here."

Pepper just looked at him, and she could feel the small, sad smile playing on her lips. Steven nodded, a world of understanding in his eyes.

"It's him, isn't it? What's happened?"

Pepper shrugged, and huffed out an annoyed breath.

"Nothing that I shouldn't have expected. I should've known better than to…And especially after the conference…And it's not like I haven't done it before it's just…God, Steven, how do I end up doing this to myself over and over? I close off, acknowledge that nothing will ever happen, _as it should be_, and then he just does something sweet, or silly, or…And I just step right back into it. And then he's…himself again, and I feel like I got hit by a proverbial Mack truck."

Steven just watched her face, giving her the quiet support that he knew she needed. He knew from experience that if he did what most friends did and simply started tearing into Tony's (questionable at best) character that Pepper would just jump to defend him. If he encouraged her to make her feelings known (as he had over the phone earlier) she would just get flustered. So, he remained silent until she indicated that she needed otherwise.

Their relationship was a strange one. She had started out as a student in one of his beginner adult classes some 6 years ago. When he had noticed her effortless grace and her skill, he'd advanced her. Then he had begun working with her one on one, allowing her to develop in such a way that played to her strengths and moved away from her weaknesses. Somewhere during that period, they had become tentative friends. One night, two years ago, they had both been heart-torn over bad break-ups. She started crying, he almost did, and they ended up at her house with a bottle of wine and a bad horror. From then on, they had practically become family to each other. Now that he had finally found someone, he wanted the same for her.

Unfortunately, her desired someone happened to be a thick-headed, tempestuous, spoiled playboy who thought nothing of his cavalier ways with women.

Steven sighed and reached over, grasping Pepper's knee in a friendly way.

"Ya know what, darlin'? Don't think about it. Tonight, just go home, have a nice bath, read…relax. Do something for you. Hell, get drunk and call random strangers if it'll make you happy." He paused, smirked at Pepper's appreciative laugh. "But…seriously, Pepp…You can't keep letting this guy break your heart. I know him, I used to be him…and he's going to keep on doing it until you either fight back or walk away."

Pepper drew a long breath in through her nostrils and let it out the same way. She nodded, gave him a sad smile, and grabbed her bag before heading out of the training room. Steven watched her go, a thoughtful frown forming on his face.

He figured it was just about time to have a talk with the infamous Tony Stark.

* * *

The club was dark, hot, bodies packed in close. The music pounding in his ears let him relax, just for a little while, and his hips ground against the woman in his arms.

Blonde hair, brown eyes, diminutive stature, and huge tits.

Everything he wanted.

Nothing that he needed.

He shot down the image in his head, laughing blue eyes, a dusting of freckles, soft red hair that was always so shiny…

Fuck it. She was out, he could be too.

He leaned in and captured the girls mouth, drowning in the sensation that was so old, so well-known.

When, later, he took her by the hand and led her to the waiting limo, he spared only a single thought for the red-haired woman: _She's gonna be_ _pissed._

Tony's lips curled into a vicious smirk as he leaned down to capture a nipple with his teeth, made the blonde girl gasp.

* * *

A/N: Well, this only took me half-way to forever to finish. I had planned on writing more, but the chapter has informed me that it's done. So…Here we are. I hope you enjoy it, and I greatly appreciate all the lovely comments and encouragement that I've received so far from this fandom.

~~Nifty~~

Acknowledgements

tonyedwstark – Thank you so much, oh darling first reviewer! This is a bit more…angst-laden than my usual style (I'm normally more a death and violence writer, sick, yes…) and I am very happy that you enjoyed. Hopefully you enjoy the new chapter! (and hopefully 3 is done faster than this one was…)

AnnaTW – Thank you! So glad you enjoyed! Rather a huge fan of your writing, lady ^.^

JamesRamsey – Oh, yay! Heart you, so much (but you knew this already!) Glad you enjoyed, and hope you continue to do so (on both fronts…Legacy update forthcoming, hopefully soon…)

TwistedCinderella – Thank you, thank you. I'm having fun with my Pepper. I always feel like she's either too perfect…or too messed up. I'm trying to keep her real. As far as the evolution of their relationship…It should be fun ^.~

EMH – Thank ye kindly!

Elorapid –Thank you! I'm trying to stay as close to character as possible, and Tony's is particularly hard to write. I loved the comics growing up, but this is movie-verse (which is essentially a whole different animal from what I've seen so far). Hope you enjoy the update.

Lady . In . Gold – Merci! My biggest worry when I start a new fic is characterization, so I appreciate the kind words. Pepper seems like she would be an extremely loyal person (even if she's pissed), so I'm trying to maintain that.


End file.
